Seniors Vaughn, Seeley Named All-Big West Second Team

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Cal State Fullerton senior guards Kwame Vaughn and D.J. Seeley were named to the All-Big West Conference Second Team on Monday morning, each earning their second all-conference honor of their Titan careers.

Vaughn, a second-team honoree as a junior in 2011-12, finished the regular season as Fullerton's leading scorer -- and the second-leading scorer in the Big West -- this year as a senior, averaging 18.4 ppg and shooting .452 from the field while not missing a game. He reached double figures in all but two games, including a team-high 12 games with 20-or-more points, including a season-high 29 against Green Bay on Nov. 18 and, again, against UC Davis on March 2. He became the 22nd Titan to reach 1,000 career points against the Aggies to tip-off the month of March and ranks 17th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,053 career points heading into this week's Big West Tournament.

Seeley, a first-team all-conference selection last season, finished third on the team and in the Big West in scoring at 17.9 ppg during the regular season, missing the final three-and-a-half games after suffering a foot injury in the second half against Pacific at home on Feb. 28. He averaged 17.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, becoming the 21st member of the 1,000-point club on Feb. 20 against Cal Poly with a 21-point night against the Mustangs. He reached double digits in all but four games in 2012-13, including a career-high 37-point night at Cal State Northridge and pair of 32-point games against Southern Utah (Nov. 17) and at UC Davis (Jan. 24).

The announcement was part of a larger conference call and media session with each of the participating head coaches for this year's Big West Tournament, which tips off on Thursday (March 14) at noon at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The eighth-seeded Titans take on top-seeded and defending champion Long Beach State later that day at 6 p.m.

The game will be televised on a tape-delay basis later that night immediately following No. 5 Hawaii and No. 4 UC Irvine on Fox Sports PrimeTicket.

On reversing a four-game losing streak heading into the tournament...
"Obviously, we've had a lot of injuries as of late so we've had to change our style of play a little bit, try to get creative on how to give ourselves the best opportunity to win. We've slowed the game down, tried to minimize possessions, and see if we can shorten the game a little bit. We've done a good job the last three games with that plan and a shortened squad… we're down to four scholarship guys and we're playing seven total, we've got three walk-ons who are getting a lot of time for us as well. They're playing with a lot of energy, we just haven't quite gotten over the hump. We've been able to be in three games, but just haven't been able to finish them off. We're looking forward to another opportunity. It's a new season, and we're going to play our butts off and see what happens."

On playing against Big West Player of the Year Long Beach State's James Ennis…"He's a complete player, he's a stud. He's one of those guys who can score in a lot of different ways and those are the guys who are the toughest to guard. Guys that can string you out and shoot the three, can penetrate, go by you and finish at the rim, will offensive rebound… he does everything. That makes it really hard, as a coach, to prepare for him because you can't just play him one way. He's a tremendous talent."

On the health of the team heading into the tournament…
"We started the year off down four post guys. We lost John Underwood, Steven McClellan, Darius Nelson, and Marquis Horne. Marquis played our first six games then went out with a torn labrum, had surgery. None of those guys will be back. Then, Sammy Yeager and D.J. Seeley, our latest two guys to go down, they have been out the last three or four weeks, Sammy with a back and D.J. with a dislocated and slight fracture in his toe. They will both see the doctor today (Monday), but they are both very doubtful for Thursday. I don't expect them to come back and I wouldn't expect them to be suited up. We'll see, you know, something miraculous could happen today or tomorrow, but I don't see that. I think what we've got is what we've got. We're down to four scholarship guys and three walk-ons, as I said earlier, and that's who we're coming in with."

On slowing the game down…
"We've been trying to shorten the game a little bit, play with the least amount of possessions. It's been tough for us to change. You recruit and you practice a certain way all year and put a certain product out there and then, for whatever reason, your environment changes and you have to change with it. That's what we've done, we've tried to turn an 80-90 possession game into a 50-60 possession game and see if we can't keep it close and give ourselves a chance to win at the end. We've done that, we just haven't been able to get over the hump."

On buying into the new "style"…
"I think they've bought in, but it's tough. You know, you preach one thing all year and then, all of a sudden, you go in a different direction, that's a hard thing to do, especially with some of these guys. The guys that are still standing are great guys and they want to win and they can see that this is really the only opportunity that they have to do that. You look at our game against Davis, our game against Santa Barbara, and our game against Cal Poly they stayed in, fought hard, and gave themselves a chance to win at the end, but just fell short… one or two possessions away. That has helped give them confidence. I think they can see where we're going and they've done a very good job and you can see that in their effort. They're playing hard and there's been a definite level of 'buy-in' on their end, for sure."